What is pathology?
Pathology isn’t just about post-mortem body dissection. It’s a branch of medicine that involves the analysis of tissue, blood, urine and other body fluid to find out what wrong with a patient. It is split into several disciplines
Histopathology
Histopathology is the study of disease in human tissue. A histopathologist looks at tissues and cells removed from patients in the clinic or during an operation and uses a trained eye to discover if a disease is present and what course of action needs to be taken.
Cytology
Clinical cytology is the study of cell obtained from fluids or smears. Cytologists examine slides containing cellular material to find out if there are any disease changes happening within the cells.
Medical microbiology
Medical microbiologists are involved in the diagnosis and the treatment and investigation of all types of infection from bacterial, fungal and viral. They have a key role in ensuring the continual reduction in hospital infections and work closely with pharmacy.
Haematology
Haematology is the study and treatment of diseases of the blood cells and bone marrow such as anaemia, leukaemia and lymphoma. Haematologists also diagnose and treat blood clotting abnormalities and are responsible for ensuring that blood transfusions are safe.
Clinical biochemistry
Clinical biochemistry is the pathology specialty that involves studying the biochemical content of the blood and other body fluids. This involves measuring enzymes and substances in blood to determine diseases in many organs. Many of those working in clinical biochemistry are highly trained scientists.
Immunology
Immunology is the study, investigation and treatment of disorders of the immune system. The immune system plays an important role in common diseases such as asthma, hay fever, skin reactions and allergies.
The Royal Derby Hospital has these departments on site, but there are other specialties in specialist centres for:
Genetics - the study of DNA and inherited diseases
Toxicology – the study of drugs in body fluids
Within each discipline there is a specialist team of medical doctors, consultants, scientists, technical, support and IT staff who work together to ensure quality of results and interpretation are given to your hospital staff and general practioners (GPs).
